BARJES ALOTAIBI
Barjes began his career with the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco), which spanned over 30 years, of which 20+ were in the Aviation Department. He has extensive management and international flying experience in various types of aircraft from the Twin Otter to Boeing 737NG. During his career with Aramco, he assumed several management positions such as Chief Pilot, Fleet Manager, Sr. Training Captain, and Safety pilot. He developed and established a standard operating procedures manual and checklists that fit different types of operations, i.e. MEDVAC, Search and Rescue, Spray mission over the Persian Gulf to combat oil spills, Photo missions, and VIP flights.
Barjes was involved in the training, development, and the standardization process. Along with selecting appropriate candidates to join Aramco’s Aviation Department, he negotiated contracts, involving different Government agencies, both civilian and military, to identify and solve outstanding issues and to insure smooth operations to all parties involved.
Gary Goldsmith
Gary is a Project Manager currently working at ARCS Aviation to manage our Air Force Rapid Sustainment Office (RSO) Phase III Project. He is responsible for organizing and planning meetings, controlling time management, monitoring progress, and analyzing and managing project risk as well as other various project management duties. Gary is a strong leader with an extensive background in the aviation industry, military and non-military, who has excellent decision making skills and always maintains a high level of integrity.
Having over 18 years of experience as a military pilot, Gary served as: AC-130U Aircraft Commander, Squadron Chief of Standardization and Evaluation, and Director of Operations. Gary is currently a First Officer at Southwest Airlines.
Gary obtained his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business and Economics from Virginia Military Institute, and his Master of Arts degree in International Relations from the University of Oklahoma.
Natalie LaFlam
Natalie LaFlam is a Marketing & Account Coordinator at ARCS Aviation. Natalie is a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications & Advertising. She is also a private pilot and National Guard reservist. Natalie handles all our visual communications, keeps our website and social media up to date, and helps us put our best foot forward when presenting to clients. She also assists the Project Manager (PM) in overseeing day-to-day project progress, identifying potential issue(s), and providing recommendations to the PM and management team.
The combination of her aviation and military knowledge with marketing and project coordination experience is a valuable asset to the ARCS Team!
Sacha Berwin
Sacha Berwin is the Lead Full Stack Developer at ARCS Aviation, with a wide range of expertise specializing in AI, ML, AR, VR, MR, and XR. Sacha is the lead of our team of developers here at ARCS Aviation and our go-to software development Subject Matter Expert. Sacha has over 30 years of experience in technology, with advanced programming skills in several languages including C++, C#, Python, Java, Swift, and Obj. C. He has translated those skills to develop high-level Augmented Reality systems for ARCS Aviation. He has helped the capabilities of ARCS grow immensely and continues to progress our team of developers with a positive attitude. Sacha is a problem solver and an asset to our team!
Sydney Dunaway
Sydney Dunaway is the Operations Manager at ARCS Aviation, with leadership and management experience. She is a Tennessee Technological University graduate, where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in Communications and Event Planning.
Sydney manages our corporate main office, employee relations, manpower optimization, process improvement, and more. ARCS Aviation believes that Sydney’s efficiency and attention to detail makes her a valuable asset to the team!
Brian Bleck
Brian Bleck is the Lead Software Developer at ARCS Aviation, with a wide range of expertise and skills! He aids in leading projects, assisting management, and helping supervise our team of developers.
Brian gained programming knowledge at the University of New Mexico and has almost 4 years of experience in both research and software development. While at the University of New Mexico, he gained experience in developing AR apps built for the HoloLens using C# and Unity. Brian’s attention to detail and problem-solving skills are a valuable asset to both our ARCS Aviation and development team!
THOMAS VANDERHEYDEN
Thomas has a broad range of experience and has a unique capability of developing technical manuals for aviation, Civilian and Military alike. He was a distinguished Graduate from USAF Pilot Training. He was instructor and examiner in the F-15 Eagle and completed his career as a team leader at the Joint Command Center, US Central Command Headquarters. Thomas graduated from Louisiana Tech University with BS in Aviation and earned a MA degree in Human Resource Management from Pepperdine University. Thomas is working closely with our Instructional Designers that convert manuals into online digital format or interactive multimedia instruction (IMI) training; to assure the quality of work complies with the standard.
STAN HALLAM
Stan retired in 2014 after a 43-year career as a pilot in both the military and the commercial aviation industry. Stan was qualified on eight different fleet types during his airline career, most recently the Airbus A330 on international routes while based in Charlotte, NC, with US Airways.
For the past 16 years, Stan served in the training department at US Airways as an instructor pilot, check airman and FAA designee on three different fleet types. In addition, he was involved in numerous special projects including curriculum development, standardization and check airman training. As an SME in the Advanced Qualification Program department, he was responsible for conducting operational safety audits, creating continuing check airman training courses and preparing the Flight Standards and Training department for an IATA safety audit.
As a U.S. Air Force military pilot, Stan flew the F-4 Phantom during a combat tour in Southeast Asia and later served as an F-4 instructor pilot.
DAVID PORTER
David has been involved in aviation operations since 1961. Initially trained as a military aerologist in the United States Marine Corps, upon release from active service in 1965, Porter served in various airline operational control positions of increasing responsibility, from airport operations to domestic and international flight dispatch and Manager – Standards until retirement from Delta Air Lines at the end of 2001 as Manager-Operations Services. Included in his responsibilities were domestic and foreign airline partner code share safety audits.
During Porter’s career with Delta he also served his professional association, the global International Federation of Air Line Dispatcher Associations (IFALDA) ultimately serving as its President for four consecutive terms. During his IFALDA tenure, Mr. Porter was the co-author of ICAO Document 7192 D-3, The Flight Operations Officer/Flight Dispatcher Training Manual, published by ICAO in 1998. Working in collaboration with the U.S. FAA, he also developed several amendments to ICAO Annexes 1 and 6.
After retirement from Delta, Mr. Porter served as the civilian contractor Director – Flight Programs as a for the USAF Pacific Air Force (PACAF) at Hickam AFB in Hawaii. Porter was one of the initial developers of the Air Force Integrated Flight Management System, a centralized command and control airline dispatch-like program for the Air Force tanker and airlift fleet. In 2006 Mr. Porter accepted a position with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration as an Aviation Safety Inspector-Aircraft Dispatch Program Manager, working extensively with FAA Flight Standards in the development of operational control and aircraft dispatch policies and procedures, including the development of guidance material published in FAA Order 8900.1 and the promulgation of various FAA Advisory Circulars. He was also one of the developers of the FAA Special Areas of Operation Course at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City where he also served as an instructor for that and various other courses.
After retirement from FAA in 2011, Mr. Porter continued his career as a technical consultant and subject matter expert in the area of airline operational control. He has written courseware for both government and civilian aviation.
Mr. Porter currently serves as IFALDA’s Representative to ICAO.